LONDON — Reuters Published on Friday, Dec. 18, 2009 11:23AM EST

Brazil may have been the best bet for global equity investors in 2009 but it was Ukraine – in spite of the fractiousness of its political elite in recent years – that offered an unbeatable return of nearly 900 per cent over the decade, data compiled by Reuters show.

The former Soviet state was the best performing stock market in the world in the last 10 years, surging 890 per cent in dollar value, though 1999-2009 returns from government debt generally outstripped those generated by equities.

Along with Peru and Sri Lanka, Ukraine was also among the top 10 performing stock markets in 2009, a year that saw emerging equities more than double the gains of the MSCI main developed market index.

The best performing stock market in 2009 was Brazil whose Bovespa Index surged a blistering 145 per cent in dollar terms, fuelled in part by the 29 per cent rise in the value of its real currency versus the greenback.

Peru's Lima General Index ranked second best, with 120-per cent returns, followed by the Philippine SE Industrial Index – the second-best performing bourse in local-currency terms – with 118 per cent.

The dollar-denominated Russian RTS index was in fourth place, chalking up over 116 per cent, with Indonesian shares just trailing behind.

Buoyed by the ruble's four-per cent rise against the dollar this year, Russia's MICEX was the top performing index in local-currency terms, generating 113 per cent.

The end of a decade-long civil war in Sri Lanka in May saw the local-currency value of its main Colombo SE All-Share Index more than double over the course of the year.

Shares in Bahrain and Slovakia were the worst- performing globally in both local-currency and dollar terms, with losses of some 20 per cent.

Lost Decade

Norway offered the best returns within 10-year government debt in 2009, generating 25 per cent for the year, but those that bought U.S. bonds would have seen their investment shrink seven per cent during the year.

Ukraine's PFTS Index managed to double in dollar value in 2009 despite the economy's dependence on a $16.4-billion (U.S.) bailout program from the International Monetary Fund, now suspended over the inability of government leaders to take concerted action to meet its economic and financial obligations.

Over the decade, the market capitalization of the Ukrainian bourse has increased tenfold to $26-billion, fuelled by large-scale privatization of state assets and the explosion of new securities sales.

Peru was the second best performing bourse of the last 10 years, leaping 842 per cent, followed by Russia's RTS Index at 697 per cent and Romanian shares at 567 per cent.

On a 10-year basis, U.S. equity investors would have suffered the worst performance on record in what has come to be known as “the lost decade”.

Even in total return terms, investors in the S&P 500 Index would have lost 9.8 per cent since the end of December – in stark contrast to holders of 10-year U.S. bonds who would have seen returns of 84 per cent over the same period.

Source

WAM KYIV, 10th Dec. 2009 (WAM) -- Kyiv is the only CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) city to have been inscribed into the TOP30 European Green City Index presented during the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

The Index is a unique study of the environmental sustainability of 30 major cities in 30 European countries, analyzing their achievements in environmental and climate protection. It was developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit and written in co-operation with Siemens, the Siemens Ukraine press-service has reported.

The study looks at eight categories: CO2 emissions; energy; buildings; transportation; water; air quality; waste and land use; and environmental governance.

Copenhagen was named the 'greenest' major city in Europe, followed by Stockholm, Oslo, Vienna, and Amsterdam. And Kyiv goes the 30th.

As UKRINFORM, the national news agency of Ukraine, reported, over the recent years Kyiv has been reducing its urban plantation and as of 2008 about 16 square meters fell on one Kyiv resident. This figure, however, is nevertheless higher than many European cities have.

WAM/TF

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Kyiv, Ukraine- December 1, 2009

The third Canadian relief shipment of H1N1 medical supplies will arrive in Kyiv, Ukraine Wednesday afternoon at 12:05 on board Aerosvit Flight VV 132 from New York. The shipments were organized by the Canada Ukraine Foundation (CUF) in conjunction with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) and the Children of Chernobyl Canadian Fund (CCCF) subsequent to an urgent appeal by Ukraine's Ambassador to Canada, Ihor Ostash.

The shipment valued at $110,000 consists of urgently needed medical supplies including 4 state-of-the-art ventilators, 80 oxymeters (including 10 handheld oxymeters for post-natal infants), 3 capnographs, surgical masks, N95 respirator masks, isolation gowns, surgical gloves, face shields, bottle hand sanitizers, and other medical supplies. The supplies are designated for 24 hospitals in Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernivtsi and Western Ukraine which were hardest hit by the epidemic, among them three children's hospitals. The shipment follows two previous ones valued at $180,000 which arrived in Ukraine two weeks earlier.

"Our focus is on people-to-people help, as the Canadian diaspora responds to the needs of the people of Ukraine. The shipments are going to specific hospitals that are still caught in a Soviet era health care system that is not equipped to handle a crisis like this," commented CUF President Bohdan Onyschuk. "We are extremely grateful to Aerosvit, Air Canada and the Cole Group for providing the air transportation services for free, and to the Children of Chornobyl Canadian Fund and the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America for donating some of the supplies and partnering with us on this vital humanitarian aid project."

Mr. Onyschuk further stated, "Ihor Ostash and the Ukrainian Embassy staff in Ottawa have also been terrific for their tireless efforts in fast-tracking the clearance of these shipments with Ukrainian Customs and Ministry of Health officials in Ukraine."

CUF, which raised some $300,000 for the relief effort, continues to monitor the situation in Ukraine and is prepared to send additional shipments if needed.

TO DONATE TO THE UKRAINE PANDEMIC APPEAL:

Contact: www.cufoundation.ca,
or by mailing donations to CUF, 203-952 Main Street, Winnipeg, MB Canada R2W 3P4.

For more information, contact:
Details on what is needed and how you can donate or help are available at
www.ucc.ca or www.cufoundation.ca
or you may contact Lesia Demkowicz at ucc@ucc.ca or tel: (204) 942-4627.